On August 15, the U.S. Senate passed The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986. This could lead to the strongest step our government has ever taken to help end apartheid in South Africa. The House and Senate are now reconciling the two versions of this legislation in Conference Committee. President Reagan must be held accountable to the will of Congress and the American people by signing the bill into law. Effective sanctions are the only chance for averting a racial bloodbath in South Africa. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Cyrus Vance, Malcolm Fraser, and the Rev. Allan Boesak agree on this point. Effective sanctions are the only alternative to bloody, racial civil war. Even though the majority...
On August 15, the U.S. Senate passed The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986. This could lead to the strongest step our government has ever taken to help end apartheid in South Africa. The House and Senate are now reconciling the two versions of this legislation in Conference Committee. President Reagan must be held accountable to the will of Congress and the American people by signing the bill into law. Effective sanctions are the only chance for averting a racial bloodbath in South Africa. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Cyrus Vance, Malcolm Fraser, and the Rev. Allan Boesak agree on this point. Effective sanctions are the only alternative to bloody, racial civil war. Even though the majority of the American people are clearly in favor of the President taking strong action now, we must mount an extraordinary effort immediately, because Reagan has rigidly opposed sanctions for a long time. People are asked to sign the enclosed Citizen Petition to President Reagan and return it along with a generous contribution. Faced with overwhelming public pressure, President Reagan withdrew Robert J. Brown as his choice for Ambassador to South Africa in late July. The National Petition Campaign launched in June and pursued vigorously in July has been so successful in lighting a fire under the U.S. Senate that Senator Richard Lugar censured Reagan and urged him in the Oval Office to never use the term "constructive engagement" again. President Reagan's first speech on South Africa as President on July 22 was met with nearly universal disapproval by the national press and the leaders of both political parties. Support for Reagan's "constructive engagement" position has evaporated - even within the leadership of his own party - as shown by the recent Senate vote for sanctions. The University of California recently announced a multi-billion dollar divestment of funds from South Africa - the largest university divestment to date. Dozens of other colleges and universities and many religious institutions are divesting any remaining South African investments. Another example of the momentum still building on this issue is the moral energy being poured into ending apartheid by young Americans of every ethnic group; students see this as the leading moral issue of our day.
